"And yes," wrote Hagler on the Facebook page post, "she brought the snake in alive. It is a cottonmouth (poisonous) and will be released in an appropriate area."

Within minutes, AL.com readers chimed in with their opinions on the identity of the snake.

tidey : Don't know about fangs... but this appears to be a rat snake. Very common and not poisonous. Doesn't have the markings of a cottonmouth or copperhead.umgrizz1: good grief... I know any kind of snake in the house is frightening... but that snake is NOT even venomous, much less a cottonmouth...AUwildlife81: All snakes can't climb, primarily here in Alabama only the rat snake and corn snake are able to climb because they also feed on birds they would need this ability. Water moccasins eat fish and fish don't live in trees so they don't need to climb. Water moccasins as with most venomous snakes have stocky bodies which will prevent them from climbing. I have a degree in wildlife biology have taken numerous herpetology classes and I used to remove snakes for living. Yes other snakes can climb but those snakes are found in South America, Asia, and Africa.

When asked about the questions posed by AL.com's readers, Hagler stuck to his initial assessment.

"I've been raised in the outdoors all my life," said Hagler. "I'm an avid hiker. As a kid, I even had some pet snakes"

Hagler said that although the officers did not spend a "whole lot of time" trying to figure out what kind of snake they had in their hands, he remains confident it was a venomous cottonmouth.

"I didn't ask for its ID," he said with a laugh, "I didn't take it to a reptile specialist, but this snake definitely had fangs. The only snakes I know that have fangs are venomous ones."

Chris Keenum, of Keenum's Problem Wildlife Control, Inc., took a look at the pictures in question on behalf of AL.com. The snake in the pictures, he said, appears to him to be a non-venomous rat snake.

Keenum said that although he is no herpetologist, he has been in the business of catching and releasing animals like snakes for 19 years.

That being said, however, Keenum agreed with Hagler's statement that only venomous snakes have fangs.

"Yes, pit vipers like the cottonmouth have fangs," he said. "They are retractable and can fold up into the top of the mouth."

Of the three venomous snakes found in Alabama said Keenum—the cottonmouth, copperheads, and rattlesnakes—all have fangs. Coral snakes, he said, found mostly along the coast, also have fangs.

Though not all snakes have fangs, he said, all snakes do have teeth along the top of their mouths that point inward called "holding teeth."

In Alabama, said Keenum, the best way to tell a non-venomous snake from a venomous one are with the following distinctions:

Venomous snakes will have a vertical pupil with eyes in colors like bronze or gold. When flipped over, they will also have one belly scale overlapping the other all the way down the length of the snake.

Non-venomous snakes, on the contrary, will have perfectly round pupils. At the base of its neck, the snake will also have a single belly scale overlapping the other all the way up to its tail vent, where it will break into a pattern of two overlapping belly scales.

"It's difficult to tell for certain from the picture," said Keenum.

As for the attention the Facebook post has brought to his department, Hagler said it's still surprising.

"Every once in a while you put something out and no one will respond," said Hagler. "And then sometimes you do and the world explodes. But today, I'm just trying to get back to my regular Monday duties."

To read more articles by reporter Ana Rodriguez, who covers the cities of Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia Hills, click here to access her author page.

Updated at 6:28 p.m. to correct the identification of the snakes pictured.